


Damage Control

by EnchantedApril



Series: A Superlative Life [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-06-08 18:01:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6867700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnchantedApril/pseuds/EnchantedApril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes damage control is needed for delicate matters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Damage Control

Cat knew about the accident; had seen it on the news and turned towards Kara only to find that she was already gone. Less than a minute later, she'd seen the tell-tale red and blue of the Supergirl costume and had known that chances of snuggling up during a viewing of whatever movie they could find on cable were all but gone. She let out a small sigh. It was Friday and Carter was with his father so she had been looking forward to some rather uninhibited time with her fiancée.

Two months after she'd first said it, that word still sounded odd to her, even in her head. She had never expected to again be so formally attached to another person. Yet here she was, with a ring on her finger which matched one which Supergirl currently wore around her neck. She idly rubbed her thumb along the underside of the gold band as she moved to the kitchen to make coffee. She knew she woudn't be able to sleep until Kara was home.

It was just past 2am when Kara landed on the penthouse balcony. The accident on the freeway had been terrible, involving multiple cars and three tractor trailers, one of which had been hauling a somewhat hazardous liquid. Supergirl had been needed to not only help clear the wreckage and contain the liquid, but also aid the ambulances in getting the critically injured to help quickly. Carrying three of them to the hospital in quick succession in conjunction with everything else, had left even her feeling weary.

She tried to be quiet as she slipped inside, but then she saw that Cat's small bedside lamp was still on, with the older woman looking like her secret and personal definition of home, with a book open in her hands and glasses perched on her nose.

"You didn't have to wait up."

"And you know I can't sleep without you in the bed now."

Kara looked slightly sheepish.

"Sorry about that."

Cat scoffed. "It's not like it's something you can help. Apparently it's just very easy to get addicted to your presence."

Kara blushed adorably before ducking into the bathroom to wash away the scent of smoke and fuel and fear. Cat watched her go and couldn't help but grin. She found it rather pathetic how much she had fallen for Kara, but there wasn't much she could do about it now; not that she would ever dream of trying.

She knew that Kara would be hungry and still very keyed up, even after a shower, and so she padded out to the kitchen and brought back a large bowl of cereal and a mug of hot herbal tea. The sweet look that she received from her partner was well worth the tiny bit of effort.

Kara sat in her robe, with a towel wrapped around her hair as she shoveled cereal into her mouth and gave Cat the highlights of the rescue operation. Both women were glad that there hadn't been any fatalities, at least not at the scene. There were a few people who were very badly injured, and Cat promised to check their conditions in the morning. Kara smiled, finished eating, towelled off her hair and was about to put on her usual sleep clothes when Cat stopped her.

"I can tell that you aren't ready for sleep yet," she said, with a quietly knowing tone.

After such harrowing late-night experiences, Kara often wanted to feel especially close to Cat. Cuddling and sleeping wrapped up in each other's arms was usually the perfect solution, but sometimes Cat could sense that the other woman needed more. Fourteen years of holding herself just that far apart from everyone else had made physical intimacy into something much more than sex for her. It helped her feel connected and truly accepted in a way that nothing else could.

"Aren't you tired?" Kara asked, feeling that stab of guilt that always seemed to be present whenever she felt like Cat was inconveniencing herself for her sake.

"Don't be ridiculous," Cat said with a roll of her eyes, followed by a sultry gaze. "Don't you always make it well worth my time?"

Cat had a point there. There were few things that Kara enjoyed more than pleasing her fiancée in their expansive king-sized bed, and she was exceptionally good at it.

It was some time later when Kara fell into a solid and dreamless sleep, head pillowed against Cat's shoulder. As usual she had been sure to pleasure Cat, multiple times, in fact, before letting Cat return the favor. It was a routine they had followed many times now, and it never failed to ease the younger blonde into peaceful slumber.

This time, however, Cat did not follow immediately after. Instead she ever so carefully eased Kara's head back a few inches onto her own pillow, and then silently crept from between the sheets and out of the bedroom. She turned on no lights, not wanting to risk waking Kara, and able to make out enough with the moonlight to guide her to the living room.

She had grabbed her phone from the nightstand as she'd passed, and now she turned it on and quickly hit speed-dial number three. It rang only twice before a groggy sounding voice came on the line.

"Cat? Why are you calling at..." there was a short pause then, "...three a.m.?" Then suddenly the voice seemed to snap to full awareness. "Is it Kara? Is she okay? I saw the news..."

"She's fine, Alex," Cat cut her off. "But I need you to come pick me up and bring me to your ever-helpful DEO physician."

"What? What's going on? Isn't Kara there? Do you need to call for an ambulance? What's wrong?"

Cat wanted to roll her eyes at the rapid-fire questioning, but she couldn't really blame Alex for being extremely confused.

"No, I don't want to go to some filthy ER that will take hours to see me, and I don't want Kara to know I'm even gone."

"I swear to God, Cat, if you don't cut to the chase and tell me what the hell is going on..."

"Look, your sister just broke my wrist in the middle of sex. Clear enough for you?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes."


	2. Chapter 2

It really was just ten minutes before Alex arrived at the penthouse and knocked very quietly on the door. Cat had used the time to dress in some seldom-used yoga pants and one of Kara's sweatshirts. She had an ice pack snugged between her right wrist and her chest as she opened the door and stepped out into the hall before Alex could say anything.

Alex remained silent on the way to the car, aside from the necessary greetings and socially mandated, 'are you okay?'. Cat had just glared at her after that last one, and Alex had squeezed her lips together and gone into what Kara referred to as 'Alex Danvers: Superagent' mode. She'd kept a solicitous hand near the small of Cat's back and had guided her to the DEO issued black SUV in the underground garage. She'd opened the passenger door and made sure that Cat was properly buckled in before going around to her own side of the car. Then she had peeled rubber out of the garage and sped along nearly-deserted streets towards the edge of the National City.

They were twenty minutes into the drive before Alex finally spoke again.

"Okay," she said, casting a quick glance at the other woman, "I do NOT want any details, but I have to know. How the hell did it happen? I know she can forget herself sometimes, but she usually has very good control of her hands. And why aren't you acting like you're in pain?"

Cat leaned her head back and sighed. Of course she had known the questions would start at some point.

"I'm not going to give you a blow-by-blow, but suffice it to say that Kara wasn't holding onto my wrist when it broke." When Alex cast a confused look her way, she huffed out a breath and continued, "She was on top..." she trailed off as Alex winced in sisterly squeamishness.

"Yeah, okay, got it. And even that is more than I wanted to know."

"You asked," Cat replied dryly.

"Fair enough. And the pain? You're handling it very well for someone I doubt has seen many barroom brawls. Are you sure it's really broken?"

"Well it's not as if it's a displaced fracture with visible bone, and I gave birth to two children without the aid of drugs, Alex," Cat reminded her. "And I've broken this wrist before. Stress-fracture from gymnastics. My mother, of course, refused to let me quit, and it never healed properly. I'm sure it's just a small hairline fracture."

Alex nodded and remembered everything Kara had told her about Cat's mother. Apparently she hadn't been exaggerating. The woman really was evil.

"My next question is, why didn't you tell Kara as soon as it happened?"

Cat closed her eyes. She was tired, in pain, and really didn't want to be doing any of this but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Your sister wouldn't let me touch her for four months. Four long months where she was the perfect generous lover but pushed me away any time I tried to reciprocate. It took her another two before she'd really relax and let herself enjoy any of it."

"Okay, veering into too much information territory."

"I'm sure it is, but you asked and you need to know. Anyway, I'm sure that her hesitation to engage in physical intimacy doesn't really come as a surprise to you. She told me how she dislocated your shoulder with a hug not long after she joined your family."

Alex let out her own sigh.

"She was afraid to even hold my hand for weeks after that," Alex admitted.

"Then you can understand why I didn't want to immediately inform her of the problem. I want to have some sort of plan in place before I talk to her."

"What kind of plan?"

"Well, Alex, that is where you come in. You're the scientist. You're the expert in Kryptonian physiology. Think of something."

"Think of something that will make my sister feel comfortable letting you bang her?"

The glare Cat shot her would have frozen the blood in the veins of anyone else. Alex merely raised one eyebrow and returned a look of her own.

"I'll get right on it," the agent said, with no small touch of sarcasm. "But it's not going to be a quick fix. What are you going to tell her in the meantime?"

"I had considered lying to her, but that would hardly work if I then approached her with a solution to a problem she didn't know she had."

"I see your point."

Both women fell silent for the rest of the drive. Trying to keep Kara from being hurt was not an easy job.

Once they reached the DEO, the on-call doctor quickly determined that Cat was right about her injury. The doctor was only a little annoyed at being called out of bed to see to someone who hadn't been injured in the line of duty. Alex promised to bring coffee and donuts for a week as payment.

In short order, the wrist was put in a cast and the two women were driving back to the city. Cat had pulled the loose arm of her sweatshirt down over the cast, completely covering it so that only her fingertips peeked out. She continued to fiddle with the cuff while worrying her lower lip and staring out the window.

"You're not going to be able to hide that for long," Alex said sympathetically.

"I know. I'm hoping to at least get breakfast and coffee into her before I have to tell her what happened."

"You know she's going to run."

"Like a bat out of hell. Yes, I'm aware," Cat answered, sounding tired and resigned.

"I'll keep myself available if you need me to track her down."

Cat looked over at the woman she had not expected to feel so close to or to have as a supporter in her relationship with Kara. Truth be told, Alex had scared the hell out of her the first time they'd met. She had a feeling that was the effect she herself often had on people.

When they arrived at the apartment building, Cat insisted that Alex just drop her off and head home to get some more sleep. Alex had wanted to take Cat up to her door because the doctor had given her a dose of some fairly strong painkillers, but she didn't want to argue and so she dutifully pulled up to the curb and let the other woman out. She didn't pull away until she saw blonde hair disappearing through the gleaming glass doors.

Up in the penthouse, Kara was still sleeping the sleep of the innocent, blissfully unaware that her fiancée had even left. It was only five-thirty am and after late night rescues she often passed out sleeping until nine or ten in the morning. The sound of the door opening did not wake her, and neither did soft footsteps in the hallway. If only her enemies knew that they just needed to catch her the morning after a grueling fight. Cat smirked at the tousled blonde hair and gentle snoring. She was very glad that the penthouse had a state of the art alarm system, because clearly Supergirl would not be flying to the rescue if the place was ever burglarized.

Cat had left a note on the counter on the slim chance that Kara might wake before she arrived home. It just said that she had gone out for coffee and donuts. Unusual, but not unheard of. She crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash before putting water on for tea. She was exhausted, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with the script of what she planned to tell Kara circling her brain.

On the dot of nine, she put down four slices of cinnamon bread and started the coffee maker. At exactly two minutes past nine, Kara emerged from the bedroom, wrapped in a plush robe and rubbing her eyes like a sleepy toddler.

"Isn't it still early?" she asked as she sat at one of the stools beside the kitchen island.

"Only if you consider nine o'clock to be early."

"Today, it's early," Kara said with a smirk.

"Well, you did tire yourself out last night. I called the hospital around eight, and they wouldn't give me any details, but they did say that everyone pulled through so far. I got the impression that there was at least one person still in critical condition, so I'll make sure to check again tomorrow."

Kara smiled and reached out to push a curlicue of hair behind Cat's ear.

"I love that you always try to find ways to make me feel better after nights like last night," she said simply.

The sentiment was sweet and sincere, but it made Cat's stomach clench because she knew that very shortly she would be spoiling Kara's relaxed and happy mood. She turned quickly and moved across the kitchen to fetch mugs and coffee and toast, the whole time using only one hand so as to delay the inevitable. When she had to use both hands to pick up the two mugs, she first tugged her sleeve right down to her fingertips.

Kara just watched her, feeling perfectly content that lazy mornings like this were now a part of her life. Unfortunately, she reached across the counter to take her mug from Cat, and that forced the other woman to reach as well, causing her sleeve to rise up just past the edge of the cast, but it was enough. The peaceful look on Kara's face vanished instantly.

"What happened?" she exclaimed as she sped around to Cat's side and gently eased the sleeve up further. "Oh my God, what happened? Did you fall? You went to the hospital without me? Why didn't you wake me?"

Rapid-fire questioning apparently ran in the Danvers family.

"Let's take our coffee and go sit in the living room," Cat said, abandoning the toast because she knew Kara wouldn't be able to eat it.

"I don't want to sit, Cat. I want to hear what happened."

Cat ignored her and walked to the sofa, curling her feet beneath herself as she sat down, and taking a long sip of her coffee while she waited for Kara to join her, however reluctantly. She only had to wait a moment and the younger woman was sitting beside her, hand on her knee.

"Okay, we're sitting. Now talk to me."

This was already going badly, and Cat wondered if she shouldn't have let Alex come up with her.

"First, you need to know that this is not serious - "

"Not serious?" Kara interrupted. "You have a cast on your wrist."

"Broken bones heal, and so will this," Cat tried to placate her but unintentionally used the exact words Alex had said to brush off her own injured wrist so long ago.

"No..." Kara began shaking her head as her mind raced to the only explanation possible.

"Kara, stop. This is not a problem. It's not going to BE a problem. Alex is already working on something to prevent it from ever happening again."

"It was me," Kara whispered. "I did that to you. And I didn't even realize?"

She pressed her hands to her mouth and when Cat reached for her, she instinctively scooted away, and then stood up, tears forming in her eyes.

"Please, Kara, just calm down and talk to me."

"What is there to talk about?" Kara exclaimed. "I broke your wrist, Cat! Why didn't you tell me last night? Did you go to the ER alone?"

"No, no, I didn't go to the ER. I called Alex, and she drove me to the DEO and the doctor there fixed me up."

"So Alex knows? She knows everything?"

Kara looked even more mortified, which hadn't seemed possible.

"Of course you couldn't go to the ER," she continued, beginning to pace as her cheek grew wet, hands brushing the tears away as the formed. "They would have wanted you to fill out a police report or something. They would have thought you were covering for an abusive partner. That's me! ME!"

Her last words were forced out around a sob, and Cat raced to her side but was afraid to touch her. Afraid that she would scoot away again, this time right out the window.

"That is NOT why I called Alex, and God, Kara, you are not abusive! This was one time! An accident! Please, just take a few breaths and calm down and you'll see - "

"No," Kara said simply, sniffling and choking back the tears which remained. 

She straightened up and Cat was instantly on alert.

"Don't you dare think of flying out of here, Kara. Don't you DARE."

Kara shook her head and looked at Cat mournfully.

"I have to. I need some space to think."

"You have space right here, and thinking all alone is just going to make you more upset," Cat pleaded, her own eyes growing glassy with tears.

"Please just let me go, Cat. Just for a little while. I promise."

"Two hours, Kara. One minute more and I call Alex and James and your Director J'onnz and your cousin, and I will have them tracking you down."

"I'll be back in two hours," Kara promised with a nod.

An instant later and she had sped to their bedroom, donned the familiar suit and was heading for the balcony doors.

"Wait!" Cat called, hating the fact that even she could hear the desperation in her voice.

She raced up to Kara, and threw herself into the younger woman's arms, not leaving her any other choice but to catch and hold her close.

"I love you," she whispered, holding on as tightly as she could.

"I love you too, Cat," Kara replied, and then she set Cat on her feet and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Cat ran out onto the balcony, just able to make out a red and blue blur in the distance. She took a long breath, trying to calm and center herself. Then she walked back inside and collapsed onto the sofa.

"Well, that could have gone better."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kind responses to this story! I look forward to hearing opinions and criticism on this this new part.

Cat tried to act calm and disinterested about Kara's absence. She pulled layouts out of her enormous, thousand dollar handbag and spread them over the coffee table. She fired off scathing emails to people who only slightly deserved it. She drank three cups of coffee and was eyeing the bottle of scotch on the bar despite the early hour.

The problem was that her mind wasn't in it, it was off flying somewhere several thousand feet above the earth, God only knew where. Well, she had some idea of where. Carter had phoned her asking about Supergirl's sudden appearance in Europe, as noted by a couple of observant bloggers. She had told them that Kara just wanted to see how fast she'd be able to get there in case of emergency.

She was really wishing that she had only given Kara an hour for her moody flight of self-flagellation. When Alex called and told her that Kara had been spotted - very briefly - at the DEO, she started watching the clock. At least she was nearby. She was bound to come home soon. Or so Cat hoped.

Alex had been unsurprised by Kara's reaction, but had also been sympathetic and had told Cat that she was chasing down some ideas that might help. Cat had tersely told her to hurry the hell up, only later regretting her harsh words. She would consider apologizing once the current crisis was over.

Even knowing that Kara was in the area, she was still surprised by how soon she heard a familiar thump of landing out on the balcony. She looked up quickly and watched as Kara stepped through the door. Their eyes met, and then Kara cast her eyes downward.

"You're a bit early," Cat noted, trying to sound aloof and failing miserably.

"I'm sorry that I worried you. I just needed..."

"Space, yes, I know."

"I'm ready to talk now, if you are," Kara told her, sounding just a touch repentant.

"I'm ready, but first you need to change out of that," Cat said, hands fluttering as she motioned to the flowing cape and skintight suit. "I know that you are one in the same, but I am having this conversation with Kara, not her alter-ego."

Kara nodded and sped off to change, quick to return once she'd donned comfortable jeans and a loose-fitting sweater that made her feel like she could hide inside it. She sat down on the sofa across from Cat, and the other woman did not miss the significance of that distance.

Pulling herself up straight, Cat prepared herself for the worst, and prepared herself to fight it. She fully expected Kara to give back her ring or say that they needed to take a break, or tell her that she'd decided that this was just all too much to deal with. None of those choices were acceptable and she would be damned before she let Kara walk away from her because of a ridiculous and minor accident.

Kara took a deep breath before speaking, realizing that since she was the one who'd left, she was the one who needed to start the conversation.

"First, I just want to say that I'm sorry." She closed her eyes briefly and motioned to Cat's injured wrist. "I had no idea I'd done that, and that's not an excuse, but - "

She was starting to get choked up, and Cat put an instant stop to it.

"Enough, Kara," she said, with just a bit of bite to her words before softening to, "It was an accident. Hell, accidents during sex for normal people are not unheard of. Didn't you ever watch Grey's Anatomy? Someone on that show broke her partner's penis, for God's sake."

Kara had to smile just slightly at that. She and Alex had watched that and winced before cracking up laughing when it had happened.

"You need to stop seeking forgiveness, because there is nothing to forgive."

"It's really hard to believe that when I'm staring at your cast."

"Yes, well, be that as it may, I'm telling you the truth."  
"I believe you when you tell me that, but it doesn't really change anything. I hurt you in a moment of, well, not weakness obviously, but inattention or whatever you want to call it. That can't happen again."

Cat could already see where this was going.

"Since I'm the one at risk of bodily injury, shouldn't I be the one to say whether or not I'm willing to take that risk?

"No! Because I'm the one who would have to live with snapping your neck while you're sucking on my clit!"

Kara gasped at her own words, and her hands flew to her mouth. Cat just sat staring at her and blinking. Kara's idea of cursing was somewhere along the lines of "oh fiddlesticks, I burned the darn popcorn", and she never, ever used explicit terms when talking about sex, even in the midst of the act.

Cat blinked a few more times before taking a breath and saying, "Well, that was certainly - graphic."

"Sorry," Kara managed to murmur from behind her fingertips.

"No, no, maybe I needed to hear that to realize how desperately seriously you are about all of this."

Kara nodded tearfully. "It would kill me if I hurt you again."

"Very well. We can go back to just kisses and cuddling, but it applies to both of us."

"What? Cat, no, I'm fine with making love to you, it's just the other way around - "

"I said it applies to both of us, and I meant it. Kara, can't you see that I can't really take any joy from it if I know I can't bring you pleasure too?"

"But making you feel good does bring me pleasure."

Cat just stared at her.

"Fine, I'll agree to that," the younger blonde finally said.

Cat heaved a giant sigh of relief, and reached out to grasp both of Kara's hands in hers.

"Good. Then that's all settled. And I'm sure that your sister will come up with something very soon."

Kara covered her face as a blush rose to her cheeks.

"Right. Alex. My sister. Helping us have sex."

Cat let a gentle smile cross her face, finally feeling as if things might be okay again.

"She's completely professional and she loves you and wants to help. So stop blushing and give me a kiss instead."

Kara shook her head to clear the uncomfortable thoughts of her sister having uncomfortable thoughts and looked over at Cat.

"There's still one more thing we need to talk about," she said, and Cat's smile faded because Kara's voice had gone from sheepish right back to serious.

"If you are going to suggest that we call off our engagement until after this is settled, that is one thing I won't do," Cat insisted, feeling a stubborn streak of anger welling up inside.

Kara wasn't paying close attention to Cat's tone though, she was reaching around to pull something out of the waistband of her jeans. When she held it out to Cat the other woman just stared and pointed.

"What the HELL is that."

"Umm... A knife?" Kara answered. "Take it. Go on."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"It's not a normal knife," Kara told her. "It will protect you. From... Y'know... Me. If anything happens to my brain or something."

She eased the knife out of its metal sheath and a sickly green glow immediately appeared. Kara winced sharply and Cat gasped and grabbed the knife from her, shoving it back into its sheath and then tossing it across the room.

"You brought Kryptonite into our home?" she exclaimed angrily.

"Cat, if I could hurt you by accident, you know what I could do if I ever came in contact with Red Kryptonite again."

"No, what I know is that even before we were together, you couldn't really hurt me on your worst day."

"I threw you off a building!"

"And you caught me!"

"Please, Cat. Please just keep it."

"We went over and over and over this more than a year ago. We are not going backwards now and starting to worry about something that has almost no chance of happening. I'm not going to live my life that way, Kara. No. You take that thing out of here and back to the DEO. And if you don't, I am going to tell Alex and let her beat some sense into you the next time you train with her."

Cat's tone was deadly serious and her eyes were hard and unwavering as she stared Kara down. But as she watched, she saw tears welling up in Kara's eyes and witnessed her face crumpling into what could only be described as despair. Cat was shocked and frightened. Not frightened for herself but for the woman who seemed to collapse in on herself before her eyes.

She didn't waste any time wrapping herself around the impossibly strong woman who now looked as helpless as any Earth-born human.

"Kara... shhhh, love, shhhh. Talk to me. Sweetheart, whatever it is, we can deal with it. Please don't be so upset. Shhh, darling. Shhh... I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, love."

Terms of endearment rarely fell from Cat's lips, at least not with true feeling. They were casual words to be bandied about in the office, dripping with sarcasm, or cloyingly sweet. But in that horrible moment, she meant every one of them. She could hardly bear watching this woman she loved looking so small and lost.

"I'm just so scared," Kara whispered, when she had calmed enough to speak. "For so long I was afraid to touch people, and even after Alex helped me learn to temper my strength, I was still afraid to let down my guard around anyone. I never really thought I'd be able to have a real relationship. I was always too afraid of myself. But then you pushed past all of that and finally I was happy. I thought... I thought that I had myself under control, but obviously I don't. And that's when I'm in my right mind! When I think of what I could do to you if... if..." her tremulous voice trailed off and she sniffles and took a few more deep breaths. "It would destroy me. I would never be able to come back from that. Never. But when I think of never letting you touch me... or of leaving and going somewhere far away from here..."

Cat's heart stuttered and skipped in her chest and she fought to keep her own breathing slow and steady for Kara's sake. She stroked her fingers through long blonde hair and waited for the other woman to continue.

"As much as I want to keep you safe, I don't think I can live apart from you. Not now. Not anymore," Kara said, and it was as if she was half-sad and half angry at herself for her weakness.

"That is NOT going to happen," Cat insisted. "You aren't going anywhere, and neither am I. You are not going to hurt me, Kara. I believe that. With everything I am, I believe that. And I will keep believing it enough for both of us until we can come up with a way that makes you believe too."

Kara shuddered as she weakly wrapped her arms around Cat and breathed in the familiar scent of jasmine and baby powder and spring rain scented detergent. Her heartrate was finally slowing down, and she felt herself being lulled to sleep by the delicate fingers scratching against her scalp and down the length of her neck.

"Just rest for a while, Kara," were the last words she heard before she succumbed to sleep.

She didn't hear Cat's phone ring sometime later, and she didn't hear Cat answer with a blunt, "I hope to God you've found something, Alex, because your sister showed up here with a damned glowing green knife."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this could actually work as the last chapter, but I am planning one more with Alex, just because I love Alex, especially with Cat. Teehee

The sunshine from the morning had faded behind a layer of clouds which hovered over National City promising rain. The sounds from the city were muffled now, the balcony doors closed against a breeze which had turned cold in the last hour. Inside the penthouse the sounds were muffled for another reason.

Kara continued to sleep on the dark leather sofa, covered by a soft woven throw. In the kitchen, Cat moved very deliberately, keeping her actions controlled and quiet. She had boiled water for tea, taking the kettle off before it whistled, and gathered fruits and cheeses and crackers and set them on a tray, and now she sat at the counter, sipping her tea and watching the steady breaths of her emotionally exhausted fiancée.

She was watching so closely that she could see the slight change in the rhythm of her rising and falling chest. A moment later, the hand pillowed under a smooth cheek curled and stretched and then blue eyes blinked open sleepily.

"Cat?"

"I'm right here," Cat answered, coming out from behind the counter and carrying the tray with her.

"I can't believe I fell asleep."

"I can," Cat said softly. "and you obviously needed it."

"Is it past lunchtime?" Kara asked, eyeing the food.

"Just barely." She pushed the tray towards her on the coffee table. "Eat. You're probably down two thousand calories at least."

Kara couldn't argue that point, and the two of them ate in relative silence until the tray was bare aside from the stem from a huge bunch of grapes and the tops from two dozen strawberries.

"Your sister called while you were sleeping."

The last swallow of tea almost went down the wrong way, and Kara let out a few coughs before asking, "Why didn't you tell me as soon as I woke up?"

"Because you needed to eat," Cat replied, folding her hands on her lap and adopting the very calm attitude she knew she would need for the next conversation.

"Did she figure anything out? What did she say?"

"She thinks she has a solution for us, and she'll be coming by after dinner."

"After dinner? Why not now? Is she at the DEO? I could fly you there or I could go pick her up."

Kara was already standing up and heading off to the bedroom when Cat grabbed her hand as she rushed by.

"Kara, I asked her to hold off on coming over," she said, looking up into the other woman's face and preparing for the onslaught of questions.

"What? Why would you do that? Don't you want to hear about what she's found? Why wait?"

Kara was predictably confused, and flopped down onto the sofa next to Cat, allowing the older woman to keep hold of her hand.

"I asked her to wait because I wanted to talk some more."

Bright blue eyes instantly found something fascinating to stare at on the floor.

"Haven't we already talked enough?"

Cat squeezed the slender hand within her own, hoping to instill some strength into the strongest woman on earth.

"We did talk, and I'm glad that you told me everything that's been on your mind, but what if Alex couldn't find a way to help us?"

"But she did, didn't she?" Kara asked, a thread of panic in her voice.

"She said that she did, but what if? Or what if a month from now something else comes along that makes you think you can't trust yourself around me?"

"Then we get Alex to fix me again?" Kara quipped.

Cat shook her head.

"Kara, we are in this relationship together. Our problems are ours together. They aren't just yours. And obviously what happened last night was something you've never really stopped worrying about, even though you told me you had. Why didn't you talk to me?"

Kara shrugged and Cat rubbed her thumb over the back of Kara's hand and her eyebrows drew together in worried thought.

"Did you think I wouldn't listen?"

"I'm not big on talking about myself," Kara admitted.

"I've noticed that," Cat replied, and she had.

She herself didn't like delving into her own sordid past and childhood and so she had never pried into Kara's. She had always assumed that it was probably painful for the younger woman to think about her old planet and her first awkward years on Earth.

"But I'm always hear to listen," Cat told her, "I mean, if you want to talk."

Kara looked up then and sighed.

"Back on Krypton, I was a daughter of the House of El. I was basically royalty there. I was at the top of my class at the most prestigious educational academy on the planet. I had a whole future mapped out in front of me. Then I came here and I was told to never, ever talk about any of that again. I was just supposed to concentrate on being Kara Danvers. And Kara Danvers is just a sort of awkward, nerdy, nervous woman who laughs at cat videos online and somehow stumbled into dating the most powerful woman in the city."

Cat sat back, feeling her stomach churn and her face flush.

"That's how you really feel about yourself?" Cat asked, although she really wasn't surprised. Kara had always been so painfully unaware of her own attributes. At first, Cat had assumed it was false modesty, but she learned that it was anything but, and now she was coming to see the root of those feelings of inadequacy.

"Sometimes," Kara admitted. "I mean, other days I feel like the queen of the universe, like when I put out a raging fire or grab a plane just before it crashes into the harbor."

"Kara, you have more to be proud of than just your accomplishments as Supergirl. You're making your mark at CatCo, you're endlessly generous with your time and efforts on behalf of others, you inspire fierce loyalty just as yourself, with no cape involved, and don't forget, you did snag the most eligible woman in National City," Cat finished with a wink.

"I guess you make some good points."

"Of course I do," Cat said airily, and then softened and looked at Kara lovingly. "And you are an equal partner here. You do a lot of listening to me and making sure that I'm safe and happy, but you are just as important, and you need to tell me when things aren't working or are worrying you."

"I don't like to put any of that on you," Kara said. "You aren't the one with these powers. They aren't your responsibility."

"They aren't, but YOU are," Cat said firmly.

"I don't think I can really separate the two," Kara said, smiling gently at how fiercely protective Cat was acting.

"Kara, we've been sleeping together for over a year, and for most of that time, you haven't had any problem controlling your strength. Even when I'm driving you crazy with my magic fingers," she added teasingly.

Of course it was enough to make the younger blonde blush right to the roots of her hair.

"I suppose that's true," she admitted. "But last night - "

"Last night is as much my fault as it is yours," Cat said. She had been replaying the night for most of the day, trying to pinpoint what had gone wrong and why, and she was fairly certain that she knew.

"I don't know how you can say that. I'm not the one who got hurt!" Kara said hotly, and Cat could see that wrestling responsibility from the woman was not going to be easy. She was so used to both hiding her innermost self while shouldering literally every problem that came her way, that it was going to involve a serious change in thinking.

"You were tired last night."

"I'm tired lots of times."

"Yes, but usually after some late night escapade, you just want to feel my pleasure and then you just cuddle up next to me and pass out."

Kara was blushing again and she glanced over at a painting on the wall, rather than at Cat's face.

"Sometimes, when I feel like I haven't been fast enough or strong enough, I just need to hold you and know how good I can make you feel. It gives me strength somehow. I can't explain it."

Cat inched herself closer to Kara's side and wrapped her arms around her.

"You don't have to explain. It makes perfect sense. And I want to talk about this crazy idea you seem to have that you need to be able to save everyone and fix everything, but we can do it another day."

Kara seemed to sigh in relief within her arms, and Cat chuckled, low in her chest.

"In any event, you would have been happy just going to sleep, but I wanted my turn with you."

"You can be pretty persuasive," Kara said, accentuating her words with a tiny pinch to Cat's waist.

"Yes, well, it's part of my charm, you know that," Cat said glibly. "But it also makes what happened last night at least half my fault." She held up her hand before Kara could argue again. "Just because you are the one with the strength, doesn't mean I'm some helpless waif. You were exhausted, and then I pushed you into a place where even normal earthlings have limited control of their responses. It was one tiny instant, Kara. One instant where you were stronger than you meant to be and I was in an awkward position, and we were both tired and not thinking straight even before the pheromones started flying."

"I still - "

"No!" Cat said, silencing her with a stern word and a finger to soft pink lips. "No," she said quieter. "You take on so much, Kara, but you don't have to carry this alone. Our happiness together - our life together - depends on both of us. And even if Alex told us that she couldn't come up with anything, I would not give up that life for anything, and there's no way in hell I'd let you give it up either. Not without fighting you tooth and nail. I can read you when we're together between the sheets almost as well as you can read me, and I can be at least as responsible for my safety as you are."

Kara couldn't help her natural inclination to snuggle closer to the person she loved most in the world.

"I'm still scared," she admitted, face buried in Cat's shoulder.

"I know you are, sweetheart, but together we will get through this.


	5. Chapter Five

Cat insisted on getting out of the apartment for the afternoon. She wanted to take Kara's mind off of anything she might be dwelling on, and she had several ideas on how to do it. Luckily, Kara was happy to go along because even she knew that she would just wear a groove in the floor pacing.

Everything that Cat had told her had gone a long way to making her forgive herself. More importantly, they had her feeling better about herself and her place in their relationship. Still, such serious conversation left her weary and she needed time to process what Cat had told her. The idea that she didn't need to be solely responsible for keeping Cat safe was going to take some time to accept. Walking around the city was a sure way to get her thinking about other things while her subconscious settled into a new way of seeing things.

When it came to keeping Kara entertained and happy, Cat was an expert, and she moved them from activity to activity across National City. Normally she would have insisted on the car, but she knew how much Kara liked to walk, and so they had taken the car to the first stop and walked on from there. The art museum, the butterfly garden and the art supply store rounded out the afternoon nicely. 

By the time the two women were riding the elevator back to the penthouse, they were both feeling happy and at ease. Cat chanced a quick glance across the narrow space and saw that Kara was doing the same thing. They grinned at each other, and Kara reached out to link their pinkie fingers together.

They were still linked as they walked down the short hallway to their penthouse. They only separated when they rounded the corner and saw that their doorway was presently occupied by a certain dark-haired DEO agent.

"Alex? I thought you weren't coming until after dinner?" Kara asked.

"What would you say if I told you I had brought dinner?" Alex replied while holding up a heavily laden bag which smelled distinctly of Chinese food.

"I would ask if there were extra potstickers in that bag."

"And now?" Alex asked, thrusting a second bag towards her sister.

"Best sister ever," Kara said with a wide smile spreading across her face.

Cat just watched on in amusement. Seeing the two younger women together always warmed a spot in her heart and made her wonder how different her life might have been if she'd had a sister of her own.

"This is great!" Kara exclaimed as Cat unlocked the door and motioned for everyone to follow her inside. "We can talk about whatever you've come up with while we eat."

Alex made a face as she set her bag down on the counter.

"Eat first, talk after," Cat said, astutely reading Alex's expression.

"Huh? Why? Why are you two putting it off again?"

Alex blushed slightly and started taking containers out of the bag.

"I'm not putting anything off, Kara," she said. "It's just that eating and talking about my little sister's sex life are not mutually compatible."

"Ooooh... Yeah. I can see that," Kara said, her own cheeks beginning to go pink.

Cat just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"As adorably awkward as the two of you are, let's change the subject and bring all of this into the dining room."

Only Cat would insist on proper plates and napkins and the formal dining room for take-out Chinese food.

Of course Kara practically inhaled her meal, feeling both hungry and impatient, and then she had to wait for the other two women to finish while they chatted. Kara was beginning to feel like they were playing with her by taking a particularly long time, but finally they put down their silverware and Alex suggested that they move to the living room.

She had placed her standard mission backpack there when she'd entered, and she grabbed it as the three of them walked over to the sitting area. Kara was looking at it with wide eyes, resisting the urge to just grab it and see what was inside.

"God, you're like a five year old, Kara," Alex teased. "Have a little patience."

Kara shot her a look - her tongue stuck out - but sat down across from her sister rather than smooshing in next to her where she could get a look inside the bag.

"You said you had something?" Cat said, ever the calm member of the relationship.

"Yes," Alex replied. "I'd actually expected it to take longer, but luckily someone else on the planet had a similar issue a number of years ago."

Kara's eyebrows scrunched together as she thought about who Alex must be talking about. "Kal? He had this problem too?"

"He said something about Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," Alex said with a smirk.

"Not that this isn't fascinating - and actually it is, because I will enjoy mocking Lois, but..." Cat motioned with her hands to get Alex to jump to the point.

"Fine, just wait one more second," Alex said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a small box. "Now Lois has a necklace she wears, but knowing your love of statement jewelry, I thought you'd object to that," she said, nodding in Cat's direction.

Cat quickly spoke up, saying, "If it should be some sort of necklace then there are plenty of National City charities that would gladly take all of my jewelry to auction off."

Kara looked over, a sort of surprised gratefulness on her face, and Cat met her gaze before reaching out to grab her hand and squeeze it tight.

"Yeah, yeah, hold the love-fest until after I leave. Anyway, we came up with another idea."

She opened up the box, revealing two bangle-style gold bracelets.

Kara inhaled sharply and pressed a hand to her mouth. She could see, lightly inscribed in the gold, Kryptonian characters, words and phrases common in their wedding ceremony. The marks would appear to be just a beautiful design to the average person, but not to anyone who knew what to look for. She looked up at Alex with tears in her eyes.

"Alex..."

The dark haired woman blinked rapidly a few times before clearing her throat.

"Well, you aren't the only romantic in the family," she said with a tiny smile.

"They're beautiful," Cat said. She knew enough of Kara's culture to recognize them as symbolic of the marriage bracelets worn back on Krypton and she was almost as touched as Kara.

"I figured that they would be easy to cover, even in the suit, and you were going to need a pair in a few more months anyway."

She lifted the bracelets from the box and handed one to each of the other women.

"I don't know if you want to put them on each other or what," she said, feeling slightly out of her element with the emotions on display.

Kara silently slipped the bracelet she held onto one of Cat's slender wrists, the one not currently bearing a cast, and then Cat did the same. Cat was the one who lifted the seriousness in the room with a slight cough and a subtle straightening of her spine.

"So, how are these supposed to help us?"

"Right, right," Alex said, leaning forward.

She pointed the the top of Cat's bracelet, where several symbols linked together.

"Kara, press your right index finger right here," she said.

Kara was puzzled, but did as Alex directed. With the softest of clicks, a small door, not unlike a locket, opened and folded back to lie flat against the bracelet. As it opened, a familiar green glow spilled out. Kara gave a slight shiver and Cat pulled her hand back instinctually.

"It had to be Kryptonite?" Cat said, looking dismayed.

"It's a very, very small amount," Alex placated. "In fact, Kara shouldn't even really be feeling anything right now."

Alex and Cat looked over at Kara who looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Just a little tingle when it first opened," she affirmed.

"Cat, press your finger against Kara's bracelet."

Cat was slightly more hesitant, but reached out anyway, watching as the small compartment in Kara's bracelet opened.

"Now that, I feel," Kara said, flexing her hands experimentally.

"Alex?" Cat's eyes looked faintly panicked.

"It's fine, Cat. I swear. You don't think I'd bring something here that would hurt her, do you?"

Cat shook her head and turned back to Kara."

"Darling?"

"It's okay," Kara said. "It's mostly passed. I just feel, well, a little less super."

"That's how you should feel," Alex said. It's just enough to take the edge off of your powers, and allow you to be more in control. The second one of them closes, your powers should come back full force. The compartments are lined in lead, with gold plating on the covers, and only your finger prints will open them."

Quickly, Cat used her finger to close the compartment on her bracelet, the tiny door clicking shut with barely a seam showing.

"Yeah, I can feel the effects fading right away."

"Perfect," Alex said, clapping her hands on her knees. "Then my job here is done," she finished with a smile.

Kara practically leapt over the coffee table to throw her arms around her sister.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into the ear that had heard so many of her secrets over the years.

"Like there was ever a chance that I wouldn't think of something," Alex scoffed, but hugged back just as hard.

When the two of them separated, Cat stood up and looked at Alex seriously. She was not the hugging type, but her face revealed a lot, and Alex merely nodded, accepting the silent thanks.

"And on that note, I'm going to get out of here before the two of you put those through a test-run," Alex said, gathering her things and heading for the door.

"Alex!" Kara exclaimed.

With her hand on the door knob, Alex looked at her sister with a grin on her face.

"C'mon, like that's not gonna happen the minute I leave?"

Kara blushed adorably, and Cat moved to her side and looped her arm around Kara's waist.

"Thank you again, Alex," she said. "And we will see you Wednesday for game night."

Alex gave one final wink and departed, while Kara and Cat turned to look at each other.

"Well, we wouldn't want to prove her wrong, would we?" Cat said, raising one eyebrow.

"That might be considered ungrateful," Kara said thoughtfully.

"Very."

The older woman reached out to grab her fiancee's hand and proceeded to pull her down the hallway to their bedroom.

The test run proved to be extremely successful, but a second test was deemed appropriate and then a third, before both women fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.


End file.
